"Good teaching is good teaching, no matter how it's done." ~Valerie From a personal perspective, the presence of the teacher or the lack of teacher presence can make or break any course; online or face-to-face. The format isn't necessarily the key to student success. It is the teacher and the pedagogy he/she envelops that is the key to learning.
A strong teacher presence is vital to any successful instructional and learning community; online or face-to-face. It is easy for groups of learners to gather but it takes a teacher to direct, organize and construct the lessons to be learned. It takes a teacher to make connections for learners. It takes a teacher to bring conversations to a higher level of thought. It takes a teacher to provide feedback and to assess the learner. Anybody can socialize and study material; the challenge is to learn. It takes a good teacher to provide the correct mixture (pedagogy) to create a learning community.
The pedagogy that I have enveloped into the classroom is not based on a single theory or methodology. Whether it is f2f or online, ensuring that the learning is available to all is the true focus. This means designing classes whith the needs of the students as focus. Ally (2004) calls “Doing it right”; the learning materials designed with the learners and learning as the focus.
“Doing it right” brings about a combination of theories, learning principles and instructional strategies. There is not one single way to teach or one single way to learn but for I have found that incorporating the “16 habits of mind” is great way to “do it right.” The strategies of persisting, thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, managing impulsivity, gathering data through all sense, listening with understanding and empathy, creating, imagining and innovation, thinking flexibly, responding with wonderment and awe, thinking about thinking, taking responsible risks, striving for accuracy, finding humor, questioning and posing problems, thinking interdependently, applying past knowledge to new situations and remaining open to continuous learning are all strategies with the learner in mind; the learner in the classroom and the life-long learner (Costa & Kallick, 2009). The pedagogy I have taken into the classroom is “Doing it right;" having students who are actively involved with lessons, other individuals, instruction, materials and other online learning experiences. As a result of this learner and learning focus, are students who have enveloped the 16 habits of mind and ultimately developed the “attributes of successful, intelligent, creative, effective decision makers and problem solvers” (Costa & Kallick, 2009).
My thought is you can't take the "enthusiasm, presence, compassion and joy" out of the teacher by placing them in an online environment. The true teacher will shine through in both face-to-face and virtual learning environments.
"Focused preparation required by distance teaching improves overall teaching and empathy for students." ~Christine
Community and Environment: Your HomepageVanity PlatesTruths and a Lie Teachers must create a sense of community in the classroom. This means creating a classroom with a sense of trust, respect and support. This may include introductory work at the start of the class and/or occasional structured activities which mix social aspects into the classroom atmosphere. As an instructor, it is important to consider classroom community and environment. Salmon (2007) suggest 5 skills:
Ensuring a shared vision.
Encouraging participation
Facilitate and model social interaction
Remove barriers to participation
Sensitivity to the group dynamics.
“We need to be far more intentional in our communication with students” ~Michelle Shared Vision: Standards for SuccessGrades Online students can be thrown off without the typcial start of the year speech from their teachers. To accommodate for this weakness, online instructors must prepare a syllabus with a vision for the class. In the online classroom, it especially crucial that teachers are clear about the roles of the online learner by setting clear guidelines, expectations, protocols and netiquette (Hootstein, 2002). Steps that have proven to be effective in guiding the online learner and helping to prepare them for their online studies include: being clear about the course requirements, communicating high expectations, defining participation and grading criteria and getting students to respect due dates (Smith, 2005). To best summarize this, online teachers need to ensure that the online platform is easy to use and "create an effective online syllabus-one that lays out the terms of the class interaction-the expected responsibilities and duties, the grading criteria, the musts and don'ts of behavior, and explains the geography of the course "(Smith, 2005). Do teachers do this naturally? Yes but in the online environment the teacher has to be especially focused in making the student's role and the teacher's role clear and evident from day one. And in the case of the student who does not adjust to the independence, a teacher needs to be clear on the consequences and be willing to contact students who are not participating (Smith, 2005).
Following this is the importance of the teacher being a role model for students. Teachers who set guidelines, expectations and protocol should ensure they are practicing what they teach. Headley (2005) makes suggestions such as publishing the "turn-around times" for replies via email and phone calls, vacation and/or office hours, as well as being pro-active if deadlines are not going to be met. That is what teachers expect from students, so why would teachers do anything less?
Just like the f2f classroom, referring to the class syllabus once is not sufficient. Students in all classrooms need to now what they are learning, how they are going to learn and how they will know when they've learned it. The role of the teacher is promoting student activity, making it visible and easy to access. Redundancy is not a bad thing!
“All learning requires engagement, initiative, and participation.” ~Rachel Interactivity: Communication Plan Face-to-Face vs Online Teachniques Within the online learning community there is increased interaction and contact amongst the students and between the instructor and the students. There door to the classroom does not close at 3:00 for the onine classroom; instead the online classroom is 24/7. Students and teachers can connect through discussion boards, private threads, course emails, private emails, phone calls and online chats. For these reasons, online classrooms increase the access that students have to their teacher. However, it is the role of the teacher to be clear and concise as to how these sources can be used. An online instructor who is not available is no better than the classroom door that closes at 3:00. Using Technigues for Active Learning can help a teacher to add to the interactivity levels in the classroom.
"Accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week" ~Rachel
Time: Online course design is time consuming. Teachers need sufficient time to develop coursework and time to monitor the online activity. A few key notes from a master instructor:
Despite having a period devoted to online instruction, this one period is rarely enough to get everything done. Sacrificing a planning period or working after school/home to get everything done is a typical practice.
Some students believe they can complete the entire week's lessons over the weekend. This can lead to a lot of time communicating with student and site coordinators about progress.
An estimate for the online to f2f "time" ratio is 3:1. This means spending at least 3 times longer with the online course planning and grading.
Online instruction is a balancing act like f2f teaching. The same factors that cause burn-out in the f2f classroom apply to the online environment. For the online classroom, however, an awareness of the time, technology and student are factors that rise to the top. "A balance needs to be found that will work for everyone involved" (Sullivan, 2009).
Asynchronous teaching may mean loss of the "teachable moment", one of the more personal and powerful aspects of education. ~Pauline Flexibility: The online environment allows teachers to set learning objectives like those in the f2f classroom. However, the online classroom environment allows for increased flexbility and a decrease in class time constraints.
"All learning requires engagement, initiative, and participation." ~ Scott Increased Learning: Master teachers have reported that students learn more in the online classroom than they do in traditional face-to-face classrooms. Teachers have also reported that students write better papers, perform better on exams, produce higher quality projects, and are capable of more meaningful discussions. Both f2f and online classes require students to be invested in their learning. To be successful in either classroom active participation and regular attendance are necessary. Like the f2f classroom, it is difficult for a student to earn a grade if they are not actively engaged in the classroom. Woody Allen was not correct to say that “99 percent of academic achievement is showing up.” In both situations the student must be engaged through dialogue, course materials and activities to be academically successful. (Meredith, 2007)
Learning is "student centered."
~Tracy Differentiation: Factoring Trinomials ScreencastMath is Fun ActivityCalculator ActivityClassis Mistakes Podcasts In both the online an f2f classrooms, it is the role of the teacher to meet the needs of all students. Materials in a range of formats can ensure that every student is fully engaged in the class activities. This means providing students with auditory, visual, and tactile experiences.
Using technology students can gain a wide range of information through the use of the Internet and experience procedures, equipment, and situations that they otherwise may not. An online course extends the learning beyond the classroom or laboratory by offering access to educational resources beyond the traditional class text. One of my favorite resources is Designing and Implementing E-Learning Strategies where resources and tools can be found beyond the textbook.
"Learning is influenced more by the content and instructional strategy in the learning materials than by the type of technology used to deliver instruction." ~ Scott
"The goal is to have the software running quietly in the background while the student is learning the content in an efficient manner." Reading this quote by Janie Sullivan (2009) helps to put the role of technology in perspective for the online instructor. By "taking the focus off the technology" (Sullivan, 2009) instructors can support the learner. Yes, this sounds odd for a course that is administered through an online format but the goal is to present the content and not the tool/software. At times I believe that we (this includes me too) get hung up on the usage of the latest craze in Web 2.0 tools. We overlook the fact that the students are taking the course for its content and have quite a bit on their plates due to the workload. We must not forget that what might seem fun and exciting to us may indeed be an overload for the student. Just because they enrolled in an online course does not mean that they are experts with technology and could actually find the various tools/software components a speed bump in their learning. Keeping this in mind when creating online courses is going to important for me. I love to use the variety of Web 2.0 tools and can easily get entranced by their capabilities. I will have to "structure my courses carefully" and remember the commitment to the online classroom is much more than the technology alone. (Sullivan, 2009)
“No student is allowed to be silent” ~ Michelle
The Learner: The virtual world of learning requires a higher level of motivation, self-directed learning, persistence and commitment. As a result, “keeping online learners engaged and enrolled {can be} a tough challenge” (Martinez, 2003).
Martinez (2003) refers to studies showing a learner’s independence, goal orientation and locus of control as key factors to be considered in the online environment. Martinez (2003) also mentions emotions (fear, frustration, passion, motivation and happiness) and intentions (will, striving and commitment) as being predictors. All of predictors can be connected to a student’s level of engagement, motivation, self-direction, attitude and persistence; connections to a student’s ability to meet goals, learn and ultimately be successful. Many online learners are not prepared for the rigor of the online classroom. As a result teachers have the additional task of understanding the “at risk” learners. We should be prepared to nurture, encourage and provide individual support; help students to manage and adjust to the virtual world of learning. We should be prepared to design instruction, activities and assessments to fit the needs of the individual; not to the masses. We should be prepared to teach to each individual student; “one size does not fit all” (Martinez, 2003).
I like Martinez’s definition of the various learners that we can find in the virtual classroom:
Transforming: use personal strengths, deep desires, strong emotions, persistent and assertive effort, and sophisticated, abstract or holistic thinking ability and strategies to self-manage learning successfully.
Performing: are lower-risk, semi-skilled to skilled learners who rationally, systematically, and capably use psychological processes, strategies, preferences, and self-regulated learning skills to achieve learning objectives and tasks. They are more selective about how hard they work on learning goals and prefer focusing on the process/steps towards attaining worthwhile, to them, goals.
Conforming: are complying learners who prefer to more passively accept knowledge, store it, and reproduce it to conform, follow simple steps to complete assigned tasks, and please others.
Resistant: lack a fundamental belief that (1) achieving learning objectives set by others is of any value or worth the effort, (2) they can learn and enjoy achieving goals set by others, or (3) academic learning and achievement can help them achieve personal goals or initiate desired changes. A resistant learner’s personal goals strongly conflict with learning goals set by others.
The challenge, like that of the f2f classroom, is being sure to help the “at risk” student. They are often the students who can get lost or forgotten in the physical classroom. In the online classroom there is no longer the physical being to “see” in the sea of students. Teaching online requires a careful eye out for the student who is “hiding,” resistant to the online environment and essentially at risk of not achieving in the online classroom.
Costa, A. and Kallick, B. (2009) Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: Sixteen Essential Characteristics for Success. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Hoot, Hootstein. "Wearing Four Pairs of Shoes: The Roles of E-Learning Facilitators - 2002 - ASTD." ASTD - ASTD. 2002. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. <http://www.astd.org/LC/2002/1002_hootstein.htm>.
Martinez, Margaret. "High Attrition Rates in E-Learning: Challenges, Predictors, and Solutions." The ELearning Guild: A Community of Practice for E-Learning Designers, Developers, and Managers. 14 July 2003. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.elearningguild.com>.
"Good teaching is good teaching, no matter how it's done."
~Valerie
From a personal perspective, the presence of the teacher or the lack of teacher presence can make or break any course; online or face-to-face. The format isn't necessarily the key to student success. It is the teacher and the pedagogy he/she envelops that is the key to learning.
A strong teacher presence is vital to any successful instructional and learning community; online or face-to-face. It is easy for groups of learners to gather but it takes a teacher to direct, organize and construct the lessons to be learned. It takes a teacher to make connections for learners. It takes a teacher to bring conversations to a higher level of thought. It takes a teacher to provide feedback and to assess the learner. Anybody can socialize and study material; the challenge is to learn. It takes a good teacher to provide the correct mixture (pedagogy) to create a learning community.
The pedagogy that I have enveloped into the classroom is not based on a single theory or methodology. Whether it is f2f or online, ensuring that the learning is available to all is the true focus. This means designing classes whith the needs of the students as focus. Ally (2004) calls “Doing it right”; the learning materials designed with the learners and learning as the focus.
“Doing it right” brings about a combination of theories, learning principles and instructional strategies. There is not one single way to teach or one single way to learn but for I have found that incorporating the “16 habits of mind” is great way to “do it right.” The strategies of persisting, thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, managing impulsivity, gathering data through all sense, listening with understanding and empathy, creating, imagining and innovation, thinking flexibly, responding with wonderment and awe, thinking about thinking, taking responsible risks, striving for accuracy, finding humor, questioning and posing problems, thinking interdependently, applying past knowledge to new situations and remaining open to continuous learning are all strategies with the learner in mind; the learner in the classroom and the life-long learner (Costa & Kallick, 2009).
The pedagogy I have taken into the classroom is “Doing it right;" having students who are actively involved with lessons, other individuals, instruction, materials and other online learning experiences. As a result of this learner and learning focus, are students who have enveloped the 16 habits of mind and ultimately developed the “attributes of successful, intelligent, creative, effective decision makers and problem solvers” (Costa & Kallick, 2009).
My thought is you can't take the "enthusiasm, presence, compassion and joy" out of the teacher by placing them in an online environment. The true teacher will shine through in both face-to-face and virtual learning environments.
"Focused preparation required by distance teaching improves overall teaching and empathy for students."
~Christine
Community and Environment: Your Homepage Vanity Plates Truths and a Lie
Teachers must create a sense of community in the classroom. This means creating a classroom with a sense of trust, respect and support. This may include introductory work at the start of the class and/or occasional structured activities which mix social aspects into the classroom atmosphere.
As an instructor, it is important to consider classroom community and environment. Salmon (2007) suggest 5 skills:
“We need to be far more intentional in our communication with students”
~Michelle
Shared Vision: Standards for Success Grades
Online students can be thrown off without the typcial start of the year speech from their teachers. To accommodate for this weakness, online instructors must prepare a syllabus with a vision for the class. In the online classroom, it especially crucial that teachers are clear about the roles of the online learner by setting clear guidelines, expectations, protocols and netiquette (Hootstein, 2002). Steps that have proven to be effective in guiding the online learner and helping to prepare them for their online studies include: being clear about the course requirements, communicating high expectations, defining participation and grading criteria and getting students to respect due dates (Smith, 2005). To best summarize this, online teachers need to ensure that the online platform is easy to use and "create an effective online syllabus-one that lays out the terms of the class interaction-the expected responsibilities and duties, the grading criteria, the musts and don'ts of behavior, and explains the geography of the course "(Smith, 2005). Do teachers do this naturally? Yes but in the online environment the teacher has to be especially focused in making the student's role and the teacher's role clear and evident from day one. And in the case of the student who does not adjust to the independence, a teacher needs to be clear on the consequences and be willing to contact students who are not participating (Smith, 2005).
Following this is the importance of the teacher being a role model for students. Teachers who set guidelines, expectations and protocol should ensure they are practicing what they teach. Headley (2005) makes suggestions such as publishing the "turn-around times" for replies via email and phone calls, vacation and/or office hours, as well as being pro-active if deadlines are not going to be met. That is what teachers expect from students, so why would teachers do anything less?
Just like the f2f classroom, referring to the class syllabus once is not sufficient. Students in all classrooms need to now what they are learning, how they are going to learn and how they will know when they've learned it. The role of the teacher is promoting student activity, making it visible and easy to access. Redundancy is not a bad thing!
“All learning requires engagement, initiative, and participation.”
~Rachel
Interactivity: Communication Plan Face-to-Face vs Online Teachniques
Within the online learning community there is increased interaction and contact amongst the students and between the instructor and the students. There door to the classroom does not close at 3:00 for the onine classroom; instead the online classroom is 24/7. Students and teachers can connect through discussion boards, private threads, course emails, private emails, phone calls and online chats. For these reasons, online classrooms increase the access that students have to their teacher. However, it is the role of the teacher to be clear and concise as to how these sources can be used. An online instructor who is not available is no better than the classroom door that closes at 3:00.
Using Technigues for Active Learning can help a teacher to add to the interactivity levels in the classroom.
"Accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week"
~Rachel
Time:
Online course design is time consuming. Teachers need sufficient time to develop coursework and time to monitor the online activity.
A few key notes from a master instructor:
- Despite having a period devoted to online instruction, this one period is rarely enough to get everything done. Sacrificing a planning period or working after school/home to get everything done is a typical practice.
- Some students believe they can complete the entire week's lessons over the weekend. This can lead to a lot of time communicating with student and site coordinators about progress.
- An estimate for the online to f2f "time" ratio is 3:1. This means spending at least 3 times longer with the online course planning and grading.
Online instruction is a balancing act like f2f teaching. The same factors that cause burn-out in the f2f classroom apply to the online environment. For the online classroom, however, an awareness of the time, technology and student are factors that rise to the top. "A balance needs to be found that will work for everyone involved" (Sullivan, 2009).Asynchronous teaching may mean loss of the "teachable moment", one of the more personal and powerful aspects of education.
~Pauline
Flexibility:
The online environment allows teachers to set learning objectives like those in the f2f classroom. However, the online classroom environment allows for increased flexbility and a decrease in class time constraints.
"All learning requires engagement, initiative, and participation."
~ Scott
Increased Learning:
Master teachers have reported that students learn more in the online classroom than they do in traditional face-to-face classrooms. Teachers have also reported that students write better papers, perform better on exams, produce higher quality projects, and are capable of more meaningful discussions. Both f2f and online classes require students to be invested in their learning. To be successful in either classroom active participation and regular attendance are necessary. Like the f2f classroom, it is difficult for a student to earn a grade if they are not actively engaged in the classroom. Woody Allen was not correct to say that “99 percent of academic achievement is showing up.” In both situations the student must be engaged through dialogue, course materials and activities to be academically successful. (Meredith, 2007)
Learning is "student centered."
~Tracy
Differentiation: Factoring Trinomials Screencast Math is Fun Activity Calculator Activity Classis Mistakes Podcasts
In both the online an f2f classrooms, it is the role of the teacher to meet the needs of all students. Materials in a range of formats can ensure that every student is fully engaged in the class activities. This means providing students with auditory, visual, and tactile experiences.
Using technology students can gain a wide range of information through the use of the Internet and experience procedures, equipment, and situations that they otherwise may not. An online course extends the learning beyond the classroom or laboratory by offering access to educational resources beyond the traditional class text. One of my favorite resources is Designing and Implementing E-Learning Strategies where resources and tools can be found beyond the textbook.
"Learning is influenced more by the content and instructional strategy in the learning materials than by the type of technology used to deliver instruction."
~ Scott
The Technology: Web 2.0 Ideas for Educators
"The goal is to have the software running quietly in the background while the student is learning the content in an efficient manner." Reading this quote by Janie Sullivan (2009) helps to put the role of technology in perspective for the online instructor. By "taking the focus off the technology" (Sullivan, 2009) instructors can support the learner. Yes, this sounds odd for a course that is administered through an online format but the goal is to present the content and not the tool/software.
At times I believe that we (this includes me too) get hung up on the usage of the latest craze in Web 2.0 tools. We overlook the fact that the students are taking the course for its content and have quite a bit on their plates due to the workload. We must not forget that what might seem fun and exciting to us may indeed be an overload for the student. Just because they enrolled in an online course does not mean that they are experts with technology and could actually find the various tools/software components a speed bump in their learning.
Keeping this in mind when creating online courses is going to important for me. I love to use the variety of Web 2.0 tools and can easily get entranced by their capabilities. I will have to "structure my courses carefully" and remember the commitment to the online classroom is much more than the technology alone. (Sullivan, 2009)
“No student is allowed to be silent”
~ Michelle
The Learner:
The virtual world of learning requires a higher level of motivation, self-directed learning, persistence and commitment. As a result, “keeping online learners engaged and enrolled {can be} a tough challenge” (Martinez, 2003).
Martinez (2003) refers to studies showing a learner’s independence, goal orientation and locus of control as key factors to be considered in the online environment. Martinez (2003) also mentions emotions (fear, frustration, passion, motivation and happiness) and intentions (will, striving and commitment) as being predictors. All of predictors can be connected to a student’s level of engagement, motivation, self-direction, attitude and persistence; connections to a student’s ability to meet goals, learn and ultimately be successful.
Many online learners are not prepared for the rigor of the online classroom. As a result teachers have the additional task of understanding the “at risk” learners. We should be prepared to nurture, encourage and provide individual support; help students to manage and adjust to the virtual world of learning. We should be prepared to design instruction, activities and assessments to fit the needs of the individual; not to the masses. We should be prepared to teach to each individual student; “one size does not fit all” (Martinez, 2003).
I like Martinez’s definition of the various learners that we can find in the virtual classroom:
- Transforming: use personal strengths, deep desires, strong emotions, persistent and assertive effort, and sophisticated, abstract or holistic thinking ability and strategies to self-manage learning successfully.
- Performing: are lower-risk, semi-skilled to skilled learners who rationally, systematically, and capably use psychological processes, strategies, preferences, and self-regulated learning skills to achieve learning objectives and tasks. They are more selective about how hard they work on learning goals and prefer focusing on the process/steps towards attaining worthwhile, to them, goals.
- Conforming: are complying learners who prefer to more passively accept knowledge, store it, and reproduce it to conform, follow simple steps to complete assigned tasks, and please others.
- Resistant: lack a fundamental belief that (1) achieving learning objectives set by others is of any value or worth the effort, (2) they can learn and enjoy achieving goals set by others, or (3) academic learning and achievement can help them achieve personal goals or initiate desired changes. A resistant learner’s personal goals strongly conflict with learning goals set by others.
The challenge, like that of the f2f classroom, is being sure to help the “at risk” student. They are often the students who can get lost or forgotten in the physical classroom. In the online classroom there is no longer the physical being to “see” in the sea of students. Teaching online requires a careful eye out for the student who is “hiding,” resistant to the online environment and essentially at risk of not achieving in the online classroom.Ally, Mohamed. "Chapter 1." CDE News. 2004. Web. 15 Oct. 2010. <http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch1.html>.
Costa, A. and Kallick, B. (2009) Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: Sixteen Essential Characteristics for Success. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Headley, S. 2005. Five roles I play in online courses. Innovate 2 (1). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=78 (accessed April 24, 2008).
Hoot, Hootstein. "Wearing Four Pairs of Shoes: The Roles of E-Learning Facilitators - 2002 - ASTD." ASTD - ASTD. 2002. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. <http://www.astd.org/LC/2002/1002_hootstein.htm>.
Martinez, Margaret. "High Attrition Rates in E-Learning: Challenges, Predictors, and Solutions." The ELearning Guild: A Community of Practice for E-Learning Designers, Developers, and Managers. 14 July 2003. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. <http://www.elearningguild.com>.
Salmon, G.(2004). The 5-Stage Model. Retrieved on November 18, 2007 from http://www.atimod.com/e-moderating/5stage.shtml.